National Lottery Signs Up Barclays Pingit For Mobile Payments

Michael Moore joined TechWeek Europe in January 2014 as a trainee before graduating to Reporter later that year. He covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to mobile devices, wearable tech, the Internet of Things, and financial technology.

Mobiel players can now hit the jackpot using their smartphones or tablets to enter the Lottery

Camelot is to offer the first-ever mobile payment option for The National Lottery, allowing people to win big using their smartphone or tablet from next month.

Using Barclays’ Pingit service, punters can play the Lotto, Thunderball and EuroMillions games by Lucky Dip through the Pingit app or by scanning a QR code.

Jackpot

Players will be able to select the draws they wish to purchase a ticket for and the number of draws they wish to enter. Tickets are sent directly to their mobile devices.

Around six out of every ten visits to The National Lottery website are now made from smartphones and tablets, with Camelot hoping that the introduction of Pingit will make both paying and playing National Lottery games easier, convenient and more accessible.

“With faster payment and registration, Pingit will make it even easier for our players to enjoy the excitement of National Lottery games on the go, with the added security offered by Barclays,” said Tim Copper, digital director at Camelot.

“This collaboration with Barclays represents a real breakthrough in speed and simplicity for our players – and underlines how we’re continuing to radically enhance The National Lottery playing experience.”

Pingit will offer players who purchase a winning ticket through Pingit, the option to receive and withdraw winnings of up to £50,000 through their Pingit account. It is available to anyone with a UK mobile number and UK bank account, not just Barclays customers.

“We’re proud to be working with Camelot, making life easier for players to pay for National Lottery games straight from their mobile, with a secure, instant and simple way to pay,” said Darren Foulds, managing director of Pingit and mobile payments at Barclays

“This is a great example of how Pingit has expanded from being the first person-to-person mobile payments app in the UK to now being a viable digital option for paying for everyday goods and services from a mobile phone.”

Barclays first launched Pingit in 2012, allowing customers to send and receive money through the app quickly and securely. The app has since been downloaded over 4.2 million times, with its users, which include over 67,000 businesses, sending over £1.2 billion using the service.